A Canadian Survey of Automobile Tire Pressures, Tire Failures, and Tire Maintenance Practices

Abstract

Abstract : Previous limited tire pressure surveys have suggested that the tire pressures on Canadian vehicles are critically low and could be resulting in an abnormally high number of tire failures. Many tires examined by Transport Canada as a result of complaints of alleged safety defects were found to have failed as a result of underinflation. In December, 1978, Transport Canada initiated a national tire maintenance survey that was designed to: obtain a nationally representative sample of tire pressures to determine whether out-of-limits pressures were a serious problem; record driver maintenance habits and characteristics and attempt to relate these to tire pressures (the strength of these relationships could suggest potential countermeasures if a tire pressure problem existed); and obtain cursory information on the number and types of tire failures that have occured over the last three years. The survey data were obtained from interviews with 745 householders selected at random from across the country. The data obtained from each interview included the sex and age of each driver, the physical properties of the tires on his or her vehicle, the reported vehicle and tire maintenance habits of each driver, and the number and types of tire failures that he or she may have experienced in the past. (Author)